Figure 2.

Different sources of treatment for mental health problems in Pakistan. The ‘traditional treatment sources’ for mentally-ill persons include consulting religious clergy, peers, mazarat, medical stores, homeopathy and hakeems. Family members bring the person to the clergy, who treats them using religious methods. Some people have strong beliefs about peers (the people who claim to be religious but in fact are not) as well as graves and shrines (mazarat), so most people with mental illness are made to visit these peers and shrines (mazarat) for spiritual healings. However, non-believers consider such treatment as wrong. Illegal medical stores are also very common, especially in rural areas, and the owners of these stores often practice unlicensed treatment.